dear heidi, in your reply to Inez today re ginseng'i was interested to know what you would use instead of ginseng.i take a ginseng supplement by biocare & feel it has given me energy but if there is something better i can take for my poor o nonnie body i would be very interested. also i have been buying vegetable glycerine 500 ml from health leads uk £7.95 plus p&p but would like to buy it in bulk in uk but try as i might i can't seem to find any,any clues? i tried to find blueberry concentrate too but no luck.i've only seen blueberry jam & the two i've tasted are so sweet you can't taste the blueberries!yuk! i am still struggling with avoids potatoes are my worst demon(esp.chips i don't make them for myself but pinch my hubbies) but if we go to a restaurant only occasionally these days i sometimes eat chips.i always get annoyed with myself afterwards but don't know how to stop myself.i drink water before i go,i've eaten vegetables before i go because restaurants are notorious for not giving enough vegetables here in uk even if i ask for double portion its a joke as i thought my body was asking for more complex carb helppp!also as i get candida i have found nettle tea & urtica drops(stinging nettle)extremely good.i cant seem to get hold of red yeast rice or confirm its good for o nonnies with candida.all your advice is greatly appreciated as you are too. i was saddened to hear of the loss of your mum and send you my deepest condolences,much love debbie

Hi there, debbie! If ginseng works for you, then certainly keep using it. All the other recommendations I'd make are in the Enclyclopedia, so check through it for ideas if you like.

Did the UK message board I suggested to you help with any of your locating-things questions? That's where I'd look for the help, as they're wonderful folks and have solid experience with finding BTD foods & supps in the UK.

:-) about eating those chips, I think when you feel motivated to stop, you will. unfortunately, there are no magic pills we can take to make us stop indulging -- only we can do that, if we really want to. :-) Red yeast rice does not affect candida, and I would try to locate it with the help of your UK compatriots there on the BTD-UK board. Take good care, dear, and thank you for your kind wishes!

Heidi, It's Rose, again, the one with the legs swelling. Still the same, I cut out flax seeds, but not the walnuts and kamut yet, I will soon, promise. I finally found acerola cherry Vitamin C from "NOW" , one of the supplement suggestions you made was Vitamin A, I thought Vit. A was an avoid for TYPE O? Please explain. Since I have stopped taking flaxseeds, I am having difficulty having daily and proper bowel movements. I drink at enough water for my weight, as you suggested, I eat green veggies every day, broccoli and swiss chard. As for fruit, it's wild blueberries (frozen), raspberries (frozen), banana's, plums and papaya. I eat canned salmon every day for lunch, dinner is either chicken or sole fish. I drink about 3 glasses of water before I go to bed and 4 glasses first thing in the morning. I also drink one glass of "Gerolstein" daily, I like this brand the most. I occationally eat dried figs and raisins (organic)with no help to get the bowels going...do you have any suggestions? Thanks again for all you help, I appreciate it! Rose

Hi, Rose! Well, if eliminating flaxseed had no effect on the legs swelling, then add it back in again! :-) I'd also try upping the raw salad intake, and using a vegetable juicer. There's definitely something not "letting go" in there, eh? Can you add any red meat to the chicken & fish?

Vitamin A was once cautiously listed as an avoid for Os because while it is useful in certain situations, it shouldn't be part of a regular daily multivitamin. It still should not be taken indiscriminately or indefinitely. However, for you it may be of help. You'll see it listed in the Encyclopedia protocols for As, ABs, Os and nonsecretors generally.

Let me know when you've had a chance to trial-eliminate the other foods, OK? take care, dear, and thanks for the reports! :-D

Hi Heidi, Thank you so much for the time and effort you put into answering our questions, you are a God send. I have a question regarding fish. I am a female, Type O secretor and recently tried to add more fish to my diet. However, I ended up with food poisoning and my Naturopath told me I got it from fish. She told me to avoid eating fish (and chicken) because it is difficult to find fish that is not contaminated and that I would be better off just sticking to beef, lamb and other meats that are better controlled for contaminants. So now I am scared to death to eat fish but I know the oils are very healthy for me. This may sound like a strange question but is there a way to determine how clean a piece fish is? Should it come from a certain region of the world or be a certain type of fish? Any suggestions you could give me would be greatly appreciated as I would like to eventually be able to eat fish again. Thank you so much Heidi. Best regards, Joan

Hello, Joan! You most likely got a bad batch of farmed fish. If desired, you could take a very low dosage of fish oils instead, if the fish available in your area is of dubious quality. There are certainly "safe" species such as wild Atlantic and Pacific salmon, and many ocean fish caught in deep water far offshore. I'm a nonsecretor, and I've never had a bad experience with any fish of any kind -- unless you count my first trout-fishing trip when I was nine: my friend caught a 13-incher and mine only measured 11". :-D However, ranged organically-fed and nonmedicated poultry and cattle are quite safe for your use, so there's no reason not to choose from any or all of them.

Heidi, I love your column and I've had great success on the diet (2 years running). I feel great when I stick to the right foods for my type (O-), yet I feel like I could still lose a few pounds. I've tried going the route of calorie counting, but I've noticed a large gap when comparing my calorie needs on a calorie calculator with those implied in the serving suggestions listed in ERFYT (the calculator says I need 2250 calories per day to achieve my optimum BMI, the ERFYT servings come out to about 1400 calories per day). I do exercise daily using 5bx, and I cannot seem to lose weight at the 2250 calorie range. Am I in danger of loosing muscle mass if I go with the fewer calories suggested by DR D? How do I fight the feelings of hunger? charlie

Hello, Charlie! I really do shy away from calorie-counting, because it has become so evident in my experience that it's "what kind" of calories rather than "how many" which makes all the difference in the world to fat loss, muscle gain and health.

I'd like to recommend to you the updated portion/frequency tables in Live Right or the Blood Type O Food, Beverage & Supplement Lists. If you happen to be a nonsecretor, your Rh neg status means you should have two servings of red meat and one of fish every day of the week. Eggs nearly every day as well -- they're good sources of DHA, to help build that muscle. A handful of nuts or seeds daily. From there, we move to the vegetable and fruit categories, which are the real "pyramid base" of the diet. Grains, beans, dairy and sweeteners are unnecessary for you, so if you'd like to optimize your progress (and divert a little cash toward more beneficial foods), just leave them aside for the time being. As you can see, there is plenty of food on offer in the week, and most of us don't manage to fill out all the portions on everything!

Meet hunger with meat, squash, and green vegetables, with a bit of added oil. A steak grilled to rare or med rare & sliced thin will store nicely in the fridge and it is TASTY even grabbed right out and eaten cold! (in fact, I did that this morning. ;-)). Try the new proportions of foods, Charlie, and see how it goes for you -- write in with a report when you can!! :-D

Hi, Heidi. Thanks again for your wonderful resource! I thought I saw in the last few weeks, either in your column or Dr. Bron's, a comment that bromelain absorbed scar tissue. Can you confirm this? I have a lot of internal scar tissue, due to radiation therapy a decade ago, and would love to find a way to reduce it. Lisa

Hey there, Lisa! The place where you saw that comment is Peter's Ask Dr. D. page on PEYRONIE'S DISEASE. The statement and references are all there, just review them for comparison with your condition. If you try the quercetin, let me know how it works for you, OK? :-D

Another vegetable glycerine question: If a baking recipe calls for 1 cup of sugar, may one substitute exactly 1 cup of vegetable glycerine? Thanks so much for helping all of us! carolyn

Readers have had good results using 1/2 cup of veg gly where 1 cup of sugar would be used. So, whatever the quantity of sugar required, just use 1/2 as much veg gly as sugar. :-D

Regarding the search for Black Walnuts: It may not be worth your while. They're beneficial for me, too (, but this is what I recall about them from my childhood in a walnut orchard (now known as Silicon Valley). Black walnuts are supposedly very bitter and used mainly as the root system for English Walnuts which are grafted onto them. The orchards near me had rough black "pedistals" with smooth grey trunks above. Sometimes shoots from the lower part would come up and produce Black Walnuts. These would make good shot for a cannon. I never was able to open one as a kid without smashing it to bits. Maybe it's "sour grapes" but I wouldn't waste too much gas trying to find them!

:-D When I was a kid, my Dad was pretty deft at opening them without destroying the nut. We covered them with a mixture of corn and maple syrup, sealed them in a canning jar and left them for a few months. Quite tasty, I thought! :-D

Just read [April 11's] column and thanks Heidi and Alyson! I have explored just about EVERYTHING really. This clinical depression (Dr. says it's "low grade") has plagued me for at least 10 years. At first I was so pleased the medication (prozac at the time) worked, I didn't do much exploring, I just accepted feeling alive and finally feeling happy. However, just over two years ago I had what the Dr. described as a "major depression" and severe stress (due to a high stress job and major "political" problems at work) - I was off work for 3 months. During this time I saw a counsellor and all kinds of stuff about my childhood and my first (alchoholic) marriage came out -- it helped. 6 months after returning to work (to a different job), still exhausted from this ordeal, my husband (of 12 years) and I retired and moved to this wonderful part of the country. So, now I am happy, have no stress to speak of (except for getting ready for vacations - LOL!) have made lots of new friends, volunteer at the local hospital, sing in a choir and keep very busy. This is why I ask - why is it when I stop taking the medication (zoloft) and even though I may step up on the exercise - slowly the depression returns - it's not a BAD depression, just enough to know it's there. As for my husband, he has to be the best - I am very happy with him - he is my best friend and I cannot imagine life without him. Of course, he IS a man and has his faults as do I, but we live together VERY well. When I lived close to Toronto, the depression was worse in the winter (SAD) and I took steps to cope with it. Since moving North SAD is not a problem. Yes, we do get very cold winters, but most days it is sunny, with a brilliant blue sky that is never seen in Toronto (because of pollution) - I get outside quite a lot in the winter -- and am outdoors most of the time in the summer. So, there's a little background -- it's a mystery to me as to why I would still have this depression thing lurking in the background. Oh and I also have a wonderful daughter who graduated as a Vet and worked for a while but has gone back to school and is doing a Phd -- studying epidemics - maybe she'll find a cure for SARS - LOL. She also has suffered with depression, as did my Mum and Dad - maybe it really is genetic?? I do appreciate all the suggestions and comments from other readers and will try the meditation when I return from vacation, but for now I will just have to accept that I need the medication. love sue P.S. the cold is finally gone Heidi and I am back on the treadmill and doing the weights and feeling a lot better -- thanks for the encouragement. sue

Sue, you are a DOLL for taking the time to share all this with us.

It does sound to me as if there is a persistent, genetic, slight insufficiency of one of the neurotransmitters. Low brain catecholamines? gosh darn it. It always bugs me when some condition continues to plague someone, despite best efforts!!! So let me just review here the particulars from the Encyclopedia which I think would apply -- forgive me if this is old hat!

Right now, I'd be thrilled just to find out that a steady supplementation regimen could replace the zoloft.

And how was that vacation? thanks again for your message, dear!! :-D

Heidi, I was wondering whether you and others have found the Lifestyle Strategies in LR4YT -- such as "a clear plan ... to avoid impulsivity" (p.124) for O's -- to be helpful. As always, muy grateful, Alyson

For myself, I can say that those strategies are inspired and highly useful. Hey, O-Folk ~~ write in & let Alyson have your experiences & opinions, too!!

:-D

This entry was posted on November 21st, 2000 at 07:51:00 am and is filed under On The Diet.